Details behind Luciano Spalletti’s Italy training camp during EURO 2024

Italy got off to a good start at EURO 2024 after a 2-1 win over Albania. While there were nervous moments towards the end of the game, the performance deserved more goals for the Azzurri, who showed how well coached they are by manager Luciano Spalletti.

The ex-Napoli manager, after all, is no pushover. He had a relationist approach to coaching at the Partenopei and Corriere della Sera have detailed how similar ideas are seen in his methods for the Azzurri. The approach is based on relationism, the paper state, with more focus on sensitivity for player strengths and thoughts than fixed, positional coaching.

Off the pitch though, there are strict rules and Gianluigi Buffon rightly compared Spalletti to Marcello Lippi. There is a feeling that all of the ideas in place are in preparation for the 2026 World Cup but players aren’t allowed to slack off. Alessandro Buongiorno and Nicolo Fagioli, who didn’t play against Albania, had an extra hour of training session yesterday and Spalletti seemed satisfied by the end of it.

Spalletti did take a risk by starting Riccardo Calafiori and Alessandro Bastoni together, but there was a setup in place that favoured them as the pair are more creators than pure defenders. Italy operated in a 3-1-6 setup regularly in possession, with Giovanni di Lorenzo operating as a right sided centre-back and Nicolo Barella just infront of Jorginho, who was the one infront of the backline.

Federico Dimarco and Federico Chiesa added width on either side, with an advanced role suiting the Inter man, as Davide Frattesi roamed freely between the midfield and Gianluca Scamacca. Italy dominated possession and while the setup suited players, so did the idea of keeping possession. Forming a system to the strengths of the players is Spalletti’s speciality.

Italy did struggle and appeared unorganised in the friendlies against Turkey and Bosnia, but Italy blossomed at the right time because they train in multiple systems and training sessions generally take place behind closed doors. There is a higher emphasis on the system that benefits players than the players themselves.

Kaustubh Pandey I GIFN